Death of army recruits in training

[Liz in Eastbourne]

In researching previous Yeoman Rifles threads for the current thread, I came across a query by Jon 6640 in 2006 Yeoman Rifles asking if anyone knew what RW Iley was talking about in his account 'A Runner's Story' when he said:

'After a terrific route march (from the effects of which some died) and an inspection by H.M. the King, our ammunition and identity discs were issued and we sailed for France on May 4th, 1916.'

As was said at the time, this is not reported by Anthony Eden in his account Another World, and it is also not in GV Dennis's A Kitchener Man's Bit, though he complains about a man being tied to a wheel as a punishment when they were out in France. Iley's account has been posted on another thread KRRC 21st Battalion (Sidney H Beeden) #11.

I have just found the record of a Yeoman Rifleman who died while in training at the time specified at Aldershot: Fred Johnson King, C/12371. He was born in 1888, a furniture salesman from Barnsley, the only surviving child of four as shown in the 1911 census, with parents surviving him, and a wife and small child - so a sad case. His death is recorded on CWGC.

On the 'statement of services' the cause of his death on 4 April 1916 is given as acute pulmonary tuberculosis and heart failure in military isolation hospital Aldershot'. On the face of it this looks like a death from pre-existing illness but given that he was accepted as fit only four months earlier, at the end of November 1915, I wondered if this could have been brought on by hard training e,g, a route march. It struck me as like those deaths of young men from unexpected heart failure but the TB is a complication. I don't know how the diagnosis would strike a modern doctor.

Have people come across similar cases in WW1 recruits? Of course, this case doesn't account for the 'some', unless Iley was exaggerating all round.

Liz

[jon_armstrong]

I have come across one too. Arthur Jackson from Styal died at Prees Heath camp, having only been in the army a matter of weeks. I don't have my records to hand, but from what I remember he was in his 30s and died in 1916. I think it from was from pnuenomia, but I wouldn't swear to it.

[apwright]

I have a man in my extended family tree who died of pneumonia and bronchitis at Hazeley Down Camp, Winchester, in 1916, just a few months into his training with the Civil Service Rifles.

7722 Pte Ernest Windsor Shears:

http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=2759621

He too left a new wife and an infant child.

Previous thread on him http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=138407

Adrian

[corisande]

I think it was quite common and was more than illnesses. Here is a Dublin Fusilier

25355 Driver Christopher Mitchell . Died 27 March 1916. A Coy 10th Battalion. Killed in an accident while practicing bomb throwing. Son of Mrs. E. Mitchell, of 76, Aughrim St., Dublin

You can spot them with new battion deaths

[Robert Dunlop]

On the 'statement of services' the cause of his death on 4 April 1916 is given as acute pulmonary tuberculosis and heart failure in military isolation hospital Aldershot'. On the face of it this looks like a death from pre-existing illness but given that he was accepted as fit only four months earlier, at the end of November 1915, I wondered if this could have been brought on by hard training e,g, a route march.

Liz, some people experience a rapid deterioration from TB. This probably relates to some defect in their immune system rather than to the likes of a route march. Route marches were extremely common; rapid deterioration to death from TB was rare (the more usual, slowly progressive deterioration was more common with TB). These days, HIV and immune suppression therapy (eg after some types of transplant) are two examples that would cause TB to take an accelerated course. Very often, in cases of rapid decline, there was miliary spread throughout the body, ie huge numbers of small 'seeds' of infection (hence the term, related to the small millet seed) scattered everywhere. My paternal grandmother died rapidly in this way, before the introduction of anti-tuberculous chemotherapy.

As has been mentioned, accidents were not uncommon. Elsewhere in the Forum, there have been discussions about meningitis, measles and bacterial pneumonia (usually pneumococcal pneumonia) as well.

Robert

[jon_armstrong]

Got my records now. This is my very rough unpublished write-up of Arthur Jackson...

Arthur Jackson was born in Styal village in around 1878, the third child of George and Hannah Jackson. The family were not wealthy, living first and Farm Fold and later at Norcliffe Gardens. By the time of the 1891 census Arthur’s maternal grandmother Betsey Henshall was living with them, then an elderly 77 years old.

Although his elder sisters, Mary and Matilda (known as Tilley), were employed as cotton weavers in Quarry Bank Mill, Arthur followed his father into work as a domestic gardener, first for Theodore Crewdson of Norcliffe Hall, and later for the barrister Thomas Eastwood of Highfield.

Mary Jackson married William Shaw, leaving the family home, and Arthur’s father George died on Christmas Eve 1899. By the time of the 1901 census the remaining Jacksons had relocated to Holts Lane, his mother, Hannah, dying a short time after.

When war came in 1914, Arthur was living with Tilley at Quarry Bank Road and, like many, did not rush to enlist. A single man, he did not have the obligations of wife and children that caused reticence in others, although it is possible he was supporting his sister. Arthur attested under the Derby Scheme in late 1915 or early 1916, demonstrating willing but further delaying joining the colours for a time.

As a bachelor lacking any skill or profession essential to the war effort, Arthur was soon called to join the Cheshire Regiment in March 1916, being posted to the 5th/6th Battalion to begin his training. His military career proved agonisingly short: Private Arthur Jackson died of pneumonia five weeks later on 30 April 1916 at Prees Heath Camp, Shropshire, aged 37 years.

Arthur was buried in the same grave as his parents at St. Bartholomew’s, Wilmslow, after a service officiated by the Reverends Voycey and Ford. His hut-mates from Prees Heath sent a wreath. On Sunday 6 May a memorial service was held at the Unitarian Chapel in Styal, at which his grieving sister, Tilley, gave a reading.

[Liz in Eastbourne]

Thank you very much, Jon, Adrian and Corisande for details of those men and Robert for the convincing possible medical explanation of King's sudden deterioration. That would just have been a very rare piece of bad luck, then, unrelated to the route march. I guess with a lot of new recruits - who even if passed fit in late 1915 wouldn't have been considered for for the regular army before the war - ordinarily tough training was bound to give rise to more deaths and accidents than before. Jackson's and Shears' cases both sound as if they might have arisen as a result of poor/tough conditions or lack of treatment too but one can't tell. Sorry Corisande but I'm still a greenhorn here - when you say 'you can spot them with new battalion deaths', in which documents do you mean?

I suppose what gave the Iley story its curiosity value was the hint that the route march was too tough and his statement that 'some of us died' suggesting this was not from illnesses or accidents other than the conditions of this march. I would still guess, from the timing, that he took King's case to be a result of the route march (even if it wasn't) and that there was perhaps another one.

Bob Iley (MM) was a very brave man (Eden writes of him very warmly) and hardly needed to exaggerate the toughness of what he'd been through but there's one other story suggesting he did apparently quite like 'putting the wind up' people. And by civilian standards the implication of what he says might be true to some extent

I shall keep a look out for further evidence.

Liz

[Moonraker]

Many of the Wiltshire training camps had two or three deaths, often due to accidents when throwing bombs, falling down wells and so on. The First Canadian Contingent of some 31,000 men lost five officers and 63 men during their time training on Salisbury Plain (October 1914 to February 1915, many due to meningitis and pneumonia. There were a couple of traffic accidents and accidental shootings, including that of an officer who stood in the wrong place during firing practice; and there were several suicides.

Moonraker

[centurion]

The recent concept of "a duty of care" would be largely missing. Training would in a large part about toughening up for the conditions ahead and if men fell by the wayside this would be considered regrettable but thought better that they do so before their unit went into active service.

There seems to have been inadequate provision for housing troops on Salisbury plain, especially in the early years and some units (amongst them part of the Canadian 1st contingent) had to spend a wet and cold winter under canvas so sickness and deaths through pneumonia and related conditions would by very likely.

[Moonraker]

... There seems to have been inadequate provision for housing troops on Salisbury plain, especially in the early years and some units (amongst them part of the Canadian 1st contingent) had to spend a wet and cold winter under canvas so sickness and deaths through pneumonia and related conditions would by very likely.

Ironically, the Canadian's move from tents into huts contributed to a sharp increase in sickness. The men got the stoves red hot and went to bed with the huts overheated. When the fire died down, the huts cooled and the men awoke in the morning cold and shivering. The heat also shrunk the floor boards which were not jointed and had been imperfectly joined. With the huts being built on brick pillars two feet high, the wind blew up through the floorboards, making matters even worse. The 1st Infantry Brigade who remained under canvas throughout the winter suffered less ill-health than their comrades in huts.

In August 1914 there were only two barracks on Salisbury Plain, Bulford and Tidworth, and a massive hut-building programme started on various sites but very little such accommodation was ready by December, so many troops under canvas moved into billets. The conditions were such that ANZAC troops on the way to England and the Plain were diverted to Egypt, it being argued that travelling through the Tropics to the very wet Plain would seriously damage the troops' health.

Moonraker

[ATNOMIS]

Found in a Lof yesterday 21st Oct 2019 . A builder pasted on to the Granson who lives in the house.

[ATNOMIS]

On 05/10/2010 at 05:52, apwright said:

I have a man in my extended family tree who died of pneumonia and bronchitis at Hazeley Down Camp, Winchester, in 1916, just a few months into his training with the Civil Service Rifles.

7722 Pte Ernest Windsor Shears:

http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=2759621

He too left a new wife and an infant child.

Previous thread on him http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=138407

Adrian

 

 

Found yesterday in a Loft. The owner his the Grandson

[apwright]

Wow, that's amazing ATNOMIS! Thank you so much!
The photo must be from Ernest's wedding to Dorothy May Thorne in Cardiff on 1 June 1915. Dorothy's maternal grandfather, William Snow (1834-98), is also my 3x great grandfather.
I guess the grandson you mention is descended from Ernest & Dorothy's son Ronald Windsor Shears, born in Cardiff on 11 April 1916, eight months before Ernest died. I wonder if he ever met his son!

 

Thanks again!
Adrian

[BullerTurner]

Years ago, somewhere in the Lakes, I found a cluster of CWGC graves from a New Army battalion.  They were apparently the result of meningitis deaths, in tented camps where the battalion was quartered while training.  Over the years I have come to be aware this was not unusual.

 

In the context of the OP, this might be of interest?

 

“In 1916 a Report on Cerebro-Spinal Fever and its epidemia: prevalence among the civil population in England and Wales, with special reference to outbreaks in certain districts during the first six months of for the year 1915 was produced by Dr. R. J. Reece . He observed:- "The outbreak of war in the summer of 1914 brought about a redistribution of the, population. Young men of military age, joining the Colours, became grouped in camps, and troops were concentrated in various parts of England for military reasons. On the advent of winter many of the troops were billeted on the civil population. Overcrowding in barracks, in 'hutments', and in billets took place, pending such time as it became possible to make suitable arrangements for the accommodation of large bodies of troops. Cerebro-spinal fever has, been termed by competent observers abroad as a disease of children and recruits. The result of the altered conditions was keenly watched, and by the end of the year 1914 it became manifest that cerebro-spinal fever in epidemic form had to be reckoned with.”

 

[PhilB]

A couple of possibilities:-

1/ "Some of us died" may not have been meant literally, as "I was dead on my feet" isn`t.

2/ Is it possible that when a man did die from being pushed too hard there was some collusion to make the death certificate look more acceptable? We`re not likely to see cause of death as "Sergeant pushed him too hard"!

[Guest]

 A further consideration is that the army dealt with what came in through the recruiting office or depot door.  There were extensive enquiries before the war as to the health of recruits coming forward, in the light of the British experience in the Boer War - eg the comparison between  between the British and the Australians. Tommy Atkins v Tommy Cornstalk). Army medicals would not necessarily pick up either latent nor less than full-blown conditions- TB is the obvious one-all too many files where the Medics had to decide whether the condition was brought about on service or whether it was pre-existing.

   An example: Arthur Gordon Baxter.  Died October 1915, after 5 weeks service- Based at Bisley with the Motorised Machine Gun Corps-he had just finished a 5 years motor engineering apprenticeship in Coventry. He cycled into Guildford one afternoon, up the main hill ,complained of not feeling well and died.  A post=mortem revealed he had damaged cerebral arteries-he was reportedly anaemic while at school (Haileybury).

    The training may not have been over-tough but it would damage those with unsuspected conditions- a fault with medicals at attestation???  Negligence by supervising NCOs or  medical staff???    Perhaps the Navy formula is the best- died as a result of the general hazards of war"

[Dai Bach y Sowldiwr]

The training may not have been over-tough but it would damage those with unsuspected conditions- a fault with medicals at attestation???  Negligence by supervising NCOs or  medical staff???

90+% of diagnoses are made on the history given by the patient.

5% on clinical examination and 1 or 2% after special investigations.

Given that the number of special investigations at this time were very small, it is unsurprising that some major illnesses slipped through the net.

Having dodgy cerebral arteries is I'm afraid very bad luck and quite probably something the patient himself is unaware of.

The first presentation of such a condition  is quite often death.

Or a stroke. Either way, nothing preventable in those days.

 

Likewise, badly diseased heart valves, cardiomyopathy and so on could be totally asymptomatic.

Even moderate exertion can cause a cardiac arrest, and unless there is a possibility of immediate resuscitation, can lead to sudden death.

And sometimes it can arise in the absence of any pathological finding.

We see it today, in fit (superfit) young athletes:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabrice_Muamba

 

 

 

[gmac101]

Details attached of a young Singer and Coal Merchant whose health collapsed during training and died following an operation.  I've not sourced his death certificate but I suspect it was tuberculosis and the operation was to remove a diseased lung.  He had been discharged prior to his death so never made it into the CWGC database but he's on his home town, Galashiels, war memorial (along with a number of others who didn't meet the CWGC criteria). 

[Guest]

14 hours ago, Dai Bach y Sowldiwr said:

90+% of diagnoses are made on the history given by the patient.

5% on clinical examination and 1 or 2% after special investigations.

Given that the number of special investigations at this time were very small, it is unsurprising that some major illnesses slipped through the net.

Having dodgy cerebral arteries is I'm afraid very bad luck and quite probably something the patient himself is unaware of.

The first presentation of such a condition  is quite often death.

Or a stroke. Either way, nothing preventable in those days.

 

Likewise, badly diseased heart valves, cardiomyopathy and so on could be totally asymptomatic.

Even moderate exertion can cause a cardiac arrest, and unless there is a possibility of immediate resuscitation, can lead to sudden death.

And sometimes it can arise in the absence of any pathological finding.

We see it today, in fit (superfit) young athletes:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabrice_Muamba

 

 

 

 

      Thank you DB  -although a little worried by the phrase "The first presentation of such a condition  is quite often death.". Yes, of course, a rigorous change of lifestyle is going to knock out a number of men- I suspect that the records of post-1945 National Service call-ups will have a similar pattern of unexpected deaths through unsuspected conditions.

   One of the things that most intrigues me with my local casualties and, by extension, the Great War as a whole is the "public health aspect" We are used to any number of statistics re. fatalities and the stereotype seems to be that all were caused by getting out of a trench and being immediately shot down. That so many died of disease during or after the war or from accidents hides both the "general hazards" of war (where "active service" means just that) and the fact that ,statistically, a number of men died during the war who would have died anyway from illness or accident in civilian life- these, I think, have to be discounted from the general "casualty" figures but usually are not. In my humble estimation, the number of accident and illness deaths during the war probably reduces the "casualties" (ie assumed to be battle related) by at least 100,000.  As for those who were so weakened by active service that they did not recover from wounds but instead succumbed is a story without quantification but, in my experience with surviving files, clearly an under-rated element in the death of many wounded men- they were already too weakened  to recover.-the more so in the latter stages of the war. "Flu" hides a considerable number of deaths in 1917-1918 from other conditions-esp. pneumonia and bronchitis, where extended front-line service simply wore men down.

[Ron Clifton]

Not strictly about recruits, but Col Nicholson in his book "Behind the Lines" refers to the incidence of measles in the Highland Division who were based in Bedford on mobilisation. The locals could not understand why so many apparently tough young soldiers were actually dying, not having been exposed to the disease in childhood.

 

Ron

[rolt968]

Again not strictly about a recruit but some of the contributions to this thread might be relevant:

RM